Lal Masjid, judges’ detention: Musharraf seeks IHC’s intervention

The bench reserves its verdict on the maintainability of the petition

ISLAMABAD: Former president General (retired) Pervez Musharraf on Monday has sought the Islamabad High Court’s intervention to remove terrorism charges from the judges’ detention case and separately to cancel a case against him for conducting Lal Masjid operation in 2007.

A division bench comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani reserved verdict on a petition from Musharraf for quashing terror charges against him in the judges’ detention case.



Separately, a single bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq directed Musharraf’s lawyer to argue in the first week of April on how he can represent Musharraf, especially after he had been declared as a proclaimed offender by a trial court. Musharraf’s counsel Akhtar Shah had moved two separate petitions before two benches of the high court.

Shah challenged the insertion of section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997, against the former president in the judges’ detention case, noting that the clause had been inserted in the case on orders from the IHC. But the charges were not proved during investigations.

Following the arguments, the bench reserved its verdict on the maintainability of the petition. In the Lal Masjid operation case, Shah argued before Justice Farooq that Abdul Rashid Ghazi was killed in a military operation – called under Article 245 - on Lal Masjid in 2007 when fundamental rights were not operational.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2017.